Psych 216 - Research Methods Ch.3 - QUIZ #3

Which of the following is a reasonable causal claim? a. No one should text and drive. b. Experts say a majority of drivers text while driving. c. Texting while driving reduces impulse control. d. Teens spend too much time texting and driving.

Answer: c. Texting while driving reduces impulse control.

Which of the following statements is an operational definition of "fear of snakes" that could be assessed as a structured question? a. measuring heart rate following exposure to snakes. b. asking the question "When was the last time you saw a snake?" c. assigning the participant to keep a "daily fear diary" in which they track their fear level. d. asking, "On a scale of 1 to 10, how afraid of snakes are you?"

Answer: d. asking, "On a scale of 1 to 10, how afraid of snakes are you?"

To evaluate how well a study supports a frequency claim, you need to focus most on evaluating which of the following validities? a. Construct validity and external validity. b. Statistical validity and external validity. c. Internal validity and external validity. d. Internal validity and construct validity.

Answer: a. Construct validity and external validity.

What makes certain constructs harder to operationalize? a. Some constructs are difficult to observe. b. When different definitions don't correlate. c. When there are only two levels of the variable. d. Some constructs cannot be manipulated.

Answer: a. Some constructs are difficult to observe.

Who is responsible for deciding which validity is prioritized in a study? a. the researcher. b. the participants. c. the peer reviewers. d. the journalist.

Answer: a. the researcher.

Dr. Ellison finds a relation between amount of sleep and problem solving. Specifically, having a higher amount of sleep the night before an exam is associated with higher scores on two measures of problem solving. This is an example of which type of association? a. negatie association. b. positive association. c. zero association. d. causal association.

Answer: b. positive association.

RESEARCH STUDY 3.1: Anderson is reading his morning paper and sees the following headline: "Men Should Avoid Rock Music When Playing Board Games." (This headline is based on a study conducted by Fancourt, Burton, & Williamon, 2016.) In the study, men and women played the game "Operation" when listening to different types of music. Male participants performed worse when listening to AC/DC than when listening to Mozart, but female participants' performance did not differ based on music. How many variables are included in this study? a. one. b. two. c. four. d. five.

Answer: b. two.

RESEARCH STUDY 3.1: Anderson is reading his morning paper and sees the following headline: "Men Should Avoid Rock Music When Playing Board Games." (This headline is based on a study conducted by Fancourt, Burton, & Williamon, 2016.) In the study, men and women played the game "Operation" when listening to different types of music. Male participants performed worse when listening to AC/DC than when listening to Mozart, but female participants' performance did not differ based on music. In this study, the authors were interested in participants' board game performance. Which of the following would be a reasonable operational definition of performance? a. an earnest attempt to finish quickly. b. which board game participants chose to play. c. performance when playing a board game. d. whether participants won against a partner.

Answer: d. whether participants won against a partner.

RESEARCH STUDY 3.4: Dr. Kang, a cognitive psychologist, conducts an experiment examining the effect of emotion on memory. He provides lists of 15 words to two groups of participants at his university. He puts the names of all the participants in a hat. The first 20 names he assigns to Group A and the last 20 he assigns to Group B. Group A is given a list of words that are very emotional in content (e.g., passion, murder). Group B is given a list of words that are neutral in content (e.g., houseplant, desk). He then measures how many words each group is able to remember after being distracted for 5 minutes by watching a video about the history of the university. He finds that Group A remembers 15% more words than Group B. Which of the following makes Dr. Kang's study an experiment? a. Dr. Kang manipulated one variable and measured another. b. Dr. Kang used a distractor task. c. The study was conducted at a university. d. The study was conducted by a professor.

Answer: a. Dr. Kang manipulated one variable and measured another.

RESEARCH STUDY 3.2: Dr. Ramon makes the following claim: "Watching television leads people to spend less time communicating with their spouses, study says." Dr. LaSalle makes the claim: "Research shows that making more money correlates with spending less time talking with your spouse." Which of the following statements is true of Dr. Ramon's and Dr. LaSalle's claims? a. Dr. Ramon's claim goes further than Dr. LaSalle's claim. b. Dr. LaSalle's claim goes further than Dr. Ramon's claim. c. Dr. LaSalle's claim is the same as Dr. Ramon's claim. d. Dr. Ramon's claim involves more variables than Dr. LaSalle's claim.

Answer: a. Dr. Ramon's claim goes further than Dr. LaSalle's claim.

RESEARCH STUDY 3.3: Anton and his friends are discussing a study he read about in his developmental psychology class. In the study, the researcher made the claim that most middle school students who are bullied have low self-esteem. Clarissa questions the study, saying, "I am not sure that I am convinced. I am not sure you can really measure being bullied." Quinn also questions the study, saying, "Which middle school students did they study? I am curious if they included both private and public school students." Manish also is curious about the study, asking, "I wonder how strong the relationship is between bullying and self-esteem. Could you predict one from the other?" Manish's concern is addressing which of the following? a. the study's statistical validity. b.the study's internal validity c. the study's external validity. d. the study's construct validity.

Answer: a. the study's statistical validity.

RESEARCH STUDY 3.1: Anderson is reading his morning paper and sees the following headline: "Men Should Avoid Rock Music When Playing Board Games." (This headline is based on a study conducted by Fancourt, Burton, & Williamon, 2016.) In the study, men and women played the game "Operation" when listening to different types of music. Male participants performed worse when listening to AC/DC than when listening to Mozart, but female participants' performance did not differ based on music. Which of the following is a constant in this study? a. the type of game. b. effort put into playing the game. c. the sex of the participant. d. the number of researchers.

Answer: a. the type of game.

Which of the following is the difference between claims based on personal experience (anecdotal claims) and frequency claims? a. Anecdotal claims involve a single variable; frequency claims involve two variables. b. Anecdotal claims are not based on scientific studies but frequency claims are. c. Anecdotal claims are less interesting than frequency claims. d. Anecdotal claims appear in newspapers; frequency claims appear in journals.

Answer: b. Anecdotal claims are not based on scientific studies but frequency claims are.

Which of the following indicates that an article's claims are based on research? a. The author describes her creative solution to a scientific problem. b. The article describes how a scientific study measured a variable. c. The article includes a direct quote from an expert in the field. d. The article compares two groups of individuals.

Answer: b. The article describes how a scientific study measured a variable.

RESEARCH STUDY 3.5: Jenny reads the following headline on an online article: "If You're Sexist, People Will Think You're Racist, and Vice Versa." (This headline is based on a study conducted by Sanchez and colleagues, 2017.) This study found that members of stigmatized groups are threatened by prejudice directed at other stigmatized groups. Their results showed that White women can be threatened by racism, and men of color threatened by sexism, and that these perceptions made participants expect unfair treatment. In this study, ________ is a conceptual definition of one of their primary variables. a. a questionnaire assessing level of stigma perceived. b. perceived prejudiced attitudes. c. age of participants. d. self-reported race on a questionnaire.

Answer: b. perceived prejudiced attitudes.

RESEARCH STUDY 3.3: Anton and his friends are discussing a study he read about in his developmental psychology class. In the study, the researcher made the claim that most middle school students who are bullied have low self-esteem. Clarissa questions the study, saying, "I am not sure that I am convinced. I am not sure you can really measure being bullied." Quinn also questions the study, saying, "Which middle school students did they study? I am curious if they included both private and public school students." Manish also is curious about the study, asking, "I wonder how strong the relationship is between bullying and self-esteem. Could you predict one from the other?" Quinn's concern is addressing which of the following? a. the study's statistical validity. b. the study's internal validity. c. the study's external validity. d. the study's construct validity.

Answer: c. the study's external validity.

Which of the following is NOT a research claim? a. Texting interferes with driver's ability to pay attention. b. Most drivers have reported texting while driving. c. Texting while driving is associated with poor impulse control. d. Teens spend too much time texting and driving.

Answer: d. Teens spend too much time texting and driving.

RESEARCH STUDY 3.1: Anderson is reading his morning paper and sees the following headline: "Men Should Avoid Rock Music When Playing Board Games." (This headline is based on a study conducted by Fancourt, Burton, & Williamon, 2016.) In the study, men and women played the game "Operation" when listening to different types of music. Male participants performed worse when listening to AC/DC than when listening to Mozart, but female participants' performance did not differ based on music. Which of the following is a variable in this study? a. the sex of the researcher. b. the volume of the music. c. the type of game. d. the sex of the participant.

Answer: d. the sex of the participant.

RESEARCH STUDY 3.3: Anton and his friends are discussing a study he read about in his developmental psychology class. In the study, the researcher made the claim that most middle school students who are bullied have low self-esteem. Clarissa questions the study, saying, "I am not sure that I am convinced. I am not sure you can really measure being bullied." Quinn also questions the study, saying, "Which middle school students did they study? I am curious if they included both private and public school students." Manish also is curious about the study, asking, "I wonder how strong the relationship is between bullying and self-esteem. Could you predict one from the other?" Clarissa's concern is addressing which of the following? a. the study's statistical validity. b. the study's internal validity. c. the study's external validity. d. the study's construct validity.

Answer: d. the study's construct validity.

RESEARCH STUDY 3.5: Jenny reads the following headline on an online article: "If You're Sexist, People Will Think You're Racist, and Vice Versa." (This headline is based on a study conducted by Sanchez and colleagues, 2017.) This study found that members of stigmatized groups are threatened by prejudice directed at other stigmatized groups. Their results showed that White women can be threatened by racism, and men of color threatened by sexism, and that these perceptions made participants expect unfair treatment. In this study, the article's headline is ________ because ________. a. justified; the researchers manipulated sexism. b. justified; the findings are significant. c. unjustified; it is impossible to manipulate sexism. d. unjustified; the researcher did not study all groups of individuals who are sexist or racist.

Answer: d. unjustified; the researcher did not study all groups of individuals who are sexist or racist.